Yannik
Senior Member
Elseid Hysaj
By Fatjon Pandovski for uefa.com
The 22yr old albanian fullback reportedly has several admirers (apparently Arsenal and Bayern) among Europe's elite clubs and is enhancing his reputation further at UEFA EURO 2016.
Born in Shkoder, close to the border with Montenegro, Hysaj was brought up by his mother and grandparents before his father, working as a bricklayer in Italy, asked his son to join him across the Adriatic to pursue his football. The 14-year-old soon linked up with Empoli, making his first-team debut aged 17. After two seasons in Serie B and one in Serie A, he signed for Napoli in 2015. He made his Albania debut at 19.
He can play both, left- and rightback. Hysah isn’t one for bombing up the wing and crossing the ball, or even having a pop on goal. What the Albanian does very well is pin back accelerating wingers, clear the ball, and drop inside to man mark – like an old traditional right back would. Hysaj’s defensive positioning, tackling and aggression are the key aspects to his game but, due to his seemingly endless stamina tank, he has the energy to burst up the wing to make passes higher up the pitch.
Playing style:
A fearless, attack-minded full-back, the 22-year-old is already a key man for Napoli and Albania. He has good vision to pick out crosses and hit long-range passes, as witnessed against Switzerland on Saturday. But first and foremost he is a defender, blessed with pace and a good reading of the game. "He is very intelligent, very balanced," said De Biasi. Consistent too: Elseid missed just one match this season as Napoli finished runners-up to Juventus.
Shades of:
Classy and comfortable on the ball while being unremitting without it. Fans of a more mature vintage should think of Germany's Stefan Reuter, the former Nürnberg, Bayern, Juventus and Dortmund player.
Areas of improvement:
The obvious thing missing from Hysaj's repertoire is goals. He has made over 170 outings for Empoli, Napoli and Albania yet has managed just a solitary goal.
"He's a fantastic defender who can play on the right or the left. He is very dynamic and has great technical ability." - Albania coach Gianni De Biasi
